JEDDAH, 26 March 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s seaports will be developed with new investments to bring them on par with their international counterparts, Dr. Khaled A. Bubshait, president of the General Ports Authority, said yesterday.
“The Kingdom is envisaging an investment of SR30 billion on modernizing and equipping all of its ports,” he said while addressing the Saudi International Ports and Maritime Transport Forum, which ended at the Jeddah Hilton yesterday after a two-day run. “This will be done with the participation of the private sector.”
The Kingdom has eight seaports — six of them commercial and two industrial. The location of the ports on the Red Sea and the Gulf makes the Kingdom a central commercial hub for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
Referring to the Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), he said the port would be expanded with modern equipment. He was participating as a guest speaker in a discussion on “The Saudi Ports: Strategic Transition to Central Ports.” The objective of JIP’s expansion is to increase its capacity to handle larger ships and many more containers, he said, adding that studies are under way in this connection.
JIP, which handles nearly 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s seaborne imports, will thus get a facelift and expanded on modern lines sooner than expected.
In fact, the JIP will witness its largest expansion with latest systems of technology and security. This includes the ongoing construction of the third container station in the northwestern part of the port that will cost more than SR1.6 billion with a capacity to handle up to 1.5 million containers.
“The JIP achieved a record growth in the handling of containers during the year 2007, with about four million containers, which marks a sizeable increase over 2006. “Our aim is to reach the figure of six million containers (in the near future),” he added. He also laid stress on fighting sea and environment pollution.
Issues related to infrastructure development and shortage of trained manpower were addressed by some other speakers. One of them said that the establishment of high-level academies or centers for training young Saudis was of paramount importance both for progress of the maritime industry and increasingly taking part in the Saudization process.
Jacob Hansen, general manager, Maersk Line, Saudi Arabia, felt that the port development should be taken up with a futuristic goal to receive much larger ships. “The port will need better facilities to receive world’s largest container vessel Emma Maersk,” he said. The JIP is the Kingdom’s largest port and with its excellent geographic location it should be developed so as to handle a far greater volume of containers than it does at present, he added.
Peter Verwaerde, senior consultant, HPC Antwerp Port Consultancy, Belgium, also spoke. The session was moderated by Aamer Alireza, CEO and board member of the Red sea Gateway Terminal. “The JIP is heading toward becoming one of the major ports with the ongoing modernization,” Alireza said.
The forum, with an exhibition of maritime companies alongside, was opened by Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal ibn Majed on Sunday. Various sessions held over the following two days discussed some of the most important issues including the customs and regulations under the World Trade Organization, maritime transport economics and banking and finance options for the shipping industry.
